St. Louis, MO — The Lemp Mansion, the St. Louis landmark that runs ghost tours and a Halloween Bash out of a former beer baron’s home, is for sale after nearly fifty years with the Pointer family. It will keep running its restaurant, inn, and tours through December 31, 2027, so this fall’s Halloween season goes on as planned.
About the Lemp Mansion
German immigrant John Adam Lemp opened a St. Louis lager brewery in 1840, and his son William built it into an operation that covered five city blocks before Prohibition shut it down in 1919. The brewery was sold in 1922 for $588,500. The house is tied to a string of family suicides: William J. Lemp shot himself there in 1904, his son William Jr. died the same way in the same room in 1922, and Charles Lemp later took his own life at the house. That history is the foundation of the mansion’s haunted reputation, and the ghost tours are built on it.
Today the Lemp Mansion operates as a restaurant, inn, and museum. The Spirits Tour is a roughly 90-minute paranormal investigation that walks guests through the family’s history with dowsing rods, scrying charts, and electronic equipment. The mansion also runs a paranormal-hunt package called The Lemp Experience, murder-mystery dinners, an escape room, overnight stays, and its long-running Sunday chicken dinners, and it books weddings and private events.
The Sale
The sale, announced September 3, ends the Pointer family’s run. Richard Pointer first bought the mansion in 1977, and the family said July 2027 will mark fifty years of ownership. “On December 31, 2027, that watch will come to a close as the family prepares to pass the torch to new hands,” the announcement said. The listing is handled by Brian Besse and Kim Wright of Fusion Business Brokers, and the family is directing interested buyers to them for offering information and financials. The announcement did not include an asking price.
The Halloween Season Continues
Nothing is shutting down in the meantime. “Until that day arrives, the Lemp Mansion will remain open to the community, continuing to serve St. Louis just as it has for the past fifty years,” the announcement said. The annual Halloween Bash is set for October 31 from 8 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., with an appetizer buffet, a four-and-a-half-hour open bar, live bands, and a costume contest with cash prizes, at $93.55 a person in advance or $110 at the door. The Spirits Tour continues on Wednesday nights at $44 a person, and the mansion has a New Year’s Eve tour on the calendar for December 31. Tour guests are asked to arrive within a set check-in window, since the doors lock once it starts and late arrivals are not refunded. Anyone holding tickets or reservations for this fall is unaffected by the sale.
Event dates and ticketing
The Lemp Mansion stays open through December 31, 2027, when the Pointer family plans to hand it to new owners. For the Spirits Tour, the Halloween Bash, and reservations, visit lempmansion.com.
Featured photo of the Lemp Mansion at dusk by MattHucke, licensed under CC BY 3.0.
